Inspector Gadget
by Nikki Kirk
Summary: Frank’s got stuck underneath a pine tree when he went out to get his paper at 3am in the morning. Trust Frank to do the weirdest things. So, how do his Sydney Water Police workmates and boss get him out?


*Summary: Frank's got stuck underneath a pine tree when he went out to get his paper at 3am in the morning. Trust Frank to do the weirdest things. So, how do his Sydney Water Police workmates and boss get him out?   
  
Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with any company mentioned in here, I don't own anything in here but this story, and in short, if it's bad, I don't take responsibility for it, so there.  
  
Author's note: Well, this morning at 8.03am New Zealand time our pine tree fell down, taking our tortured willow tree with it. How rude. So the Wellington City Council are going to cut them out for us. How nice of them. It's nice to see that some of our rates are going to good use... And if they do what they're planning to do to our waterfront, I'm going to sue them for being corrupt little wieners. They have been warned... I'm in a weird mood. Ha ha ha... Oh well, enjoy the story, it is strange, but I had fun writing it! Any feedback (pretty please give me feedback!!!) write to me at sydneygirl2b@hotmail.com okay? Good. Right, I'm off!  
  
*****  
Inspector Gadget  
By Nikki Kirk  
*****  
  
Chief Inspector Jeff Hawker of the Sydney Water Police was annoyed. He'd been dragged out of bed at 5am by Helen, who'd been woken up by Rachel, who'd been woken up by Frank, who'd managed to get himself stuck underneath a falling pine tree when he'd gone out to get his paper at 3am in the morning. So it seemed that this would be a community effort. When Jeff pulled up outside Frank's house he immediately saw why it would be a team effort - the 7 metre tall pine tree looked like it weighed a tonne. Jeff sighed and stepped out of the car into the newly dawning day's cool morning air. He then looked at the sight before him. Rachel, Helen, Tayler, Gavin, Tommy, Woodsie, Dave, Mick and now him were surveying the area, wondering how the heck they'd get Frank out from his cage of branches. "Sir, the ambulance, the fire crew, and the rest of Sydney's police force are on their way. Any suggestions on what to do?" Mick said quickly when he saw the Inspector.  
"Uh, have you tried lifting it?"  
"Won't budge."  
"Tried cutting him out?"  
"The tree would squish him without those branches."  
"Oh." Well, he was stumped, and it wasn't often that Chief Inspector Jeff Hawker was stumped by a problem. Must be the hour of the morning that was fogging his brain.  
Jeff wandered around the tree surveying the damage. "Frank? You hurt at all?" Rachel had managed to crawl under the tree slightly, and had caught sight of her fellow Senior Detective.  
"Nah, I'm right as rain." Frank's voice was muffled by pine needles and the branches between him and the rest of the group.  
"How'd he call Rachel?" Jeff asked Tayler.  
"Mobile." Tayler replied.  
"What was he doing out at that time of the night?" Jeff scratched his head.  
"Getting the paper would you believe." Tayler smirked.  
"What? Jeez, Frank!" Jeff didn't have the energy for this.  
Jeff wandered around the tree once more, and suddenly his fogged up brain cleared. Ping! The light bulb turned on, and Jeff had an idea. "Frank, what have you got that would prop up the tree?" Jeff stuck his head under the tree.  
"Bricks from the path?" Frank suggested.  
"They'll work... Yes, they'll do nicely." Jeff smiled to himself, stood up, and puffed out his chest, ready to address the group.  
"I want each of you to pull up some bricks from Frank's path and prop up the tree with them to prevent it from falling any further." Jeff ordered, leading the way to the path.  
Soon a chain gang formed, tossing bricks from the brick path to the tree. Soon the tree was stabilised, and Jeff turned his thoughts on getting Frank out. He didn't want to cut the branches because they could hurt him. The ambos arrived, sirens squealing, tires skidding. The paramedics got out and looked at the seen, but were as baffled as Frank. Soon a fire engine pulled up, siren breaking through the calm morning air. The firefighters stood around looking dumb, trying to work out a way of freeing him too. Soon, to everyone's annoyance, several news crews turned up and started filming the action - people standing around trying to think.  
  
*****  
  
At about 7am, still with no ideas and nothing happening, the group decided to put their heads together. Suddenly... Ping! The light bulb in Jeff's head glowed brightly once more. "Frank, you got any strong ropes?" Jeff asked Frank, who was entertaining himself by reading the culprit of the trouble, the paper.  
"In the garage!" Came the muffled reply.  
So a Tommy and Gavin were sent to get the rope, the firefighters got their cables, and all of the police personnel went to their patrol cars to get their rope. The ropes were tied to the tree, then to the fire engine, and the fire chief tried to pull it upright. But the fire engine wasn't strong enough. So the spare ropes were put to good use, tying a cop car or three to the fire engine, and the ambulance to the front. That worked rather well, until the tree decided not to co-operate and slowly slid over to the side, smashing the letterbox to smithereens and leaving Frank's foot stuck under the massive trunk. So Jeff went to his car and got out the car jack and slid it under the trunk. That worked rather nicely. The trunk was raised about a metre off the ground, enough for Frank to crawl out, basically unscathed apart from a rash from the pine needles which itched like mad. So Frank was free, and the firefighters could chop the wood up and get a firewood company to come and collect it. Everything had worked out nicely, no fatalities... apart from the letterbox. And to this day Jeff's nickname has been Inspector Gadget, well known for his Kiwi ingenuity, because unbeknown to many, he was born in Wellington, New Zealand.  
  
The End!!!  
  
*****  
  
Well, that was a weird story. Heehee! Any comments write to me at sydneygirl2b@hotmail.com okay? Groovy.  



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